[Fraulein]

California and New Jersey

[eloy]

The Peoples Socialist Republic of Maryland
"The Free State"

[Samwise]

I am sorry to say that Terre Haute, Indiana is truly the armpit of America. Armpits stink, and Terre Haute stinks, too. Truckers driving by on I-70 laugh about the foul odor coming from the town. People claim that the stench comes from a creosote plant and and the waste treatment plant. But I suspect that the dirty politics has a little something to do with it. Yep, it's a Dem town and county. The economy, of course, sucks. Their two local heros are Eugene V. Debs and Paul Dresser (Dreiser). I can still feel the wrath of a prof who corrected me for saying that Dreiser was a socialist.

[relee]

That's easy - New Jersey!

[hawkeye101]

Iowa is by far the armpit of America. It is the only state that didn't double in population in the 20th century, which makes it so pathetic and worthless. It is so myopic about agriculture and farmers that it has driven out almost all other businesses, and its best and brightest people have been leaving for decades.

Des Moines is so pathetic also. The thing about Des Moines is that it has all the provinicalism and narrow-minded thinking of a small town, but has the crime, poverty, and decay of a big city!

[InvisibleChurch]

no state, but xxxlinton will suffice

[qwert]

Everybody Knows....It's New Jersy The Armpit of the Country

[who knows what evil?]

Freepers excepted...if I woke up tomorrow, and discovered that everything north of the Potomac and east of the Susquehanna had drifted off into the North Atlantic; it would be a beautiful new beginning for the rest of the country. (Next, the west coast floats off to mainland China...) If wishes was fishes...

[Vicki]

Got to be California.

[dagny taggert]

I object. I have been to (really been to, not just driven through) 28 of these 50 United States, and I can guarantee that not a one of them deserves the wholesale condemnation that you seek. There may be neighborhoods within cities within regions within states that may, MAY, deserve the wholesale condemnation you seek, but I think we are, on the whole, NOT the armpit you seek. Sorry.

[epow]

Any big city is a stinking armpit. If you want to live like a human being instead of like a caged gerbil, do what I did, get out of the city and into the country. Out here in the farms, woods, and small towns, America is still God's country. Cities are the devil's cesspools and they will only get worse.

Of course, I'm just making all that up ha ha. I'm really sorry I moved here. None of you would like it out here. Really you wouldn't, trust me. It's really miserable living out here. This is an awful way to live. Don't come. Stay where you are, cities are really great. Believe me, no one in their right mind would live out here. For your own good, stay away. Please. Pretty please.

[Fledermaus]

I don't believe NationsBank was ever based in Arkansas. It's North Carolina. And it's now called Bank of America after the merger.

Stephens Securities is based in Little Rock, huge investment broker and big Dem backers. Also, TCBY started in Little Rock.

[MadIvan]

I'd have to say based on my perspective, the most decrepit looking state I've been in was Connecticut. Now I know there are nice parts to it, very wealthy parts in fact, but I once got lost in Hartford. ;)

CT looks like a state that overdosed on liberalism, taxes and "All Things Considered". A mess, in other words.

Regards, Ivan

[StormEye]

Maryland is doing its best to earn the title.

[lewislynn]

Which State is the Armpit of America?

Yours

[glorygirl]

Why is it so easy to pick the most beautiful state, and so difficulty to pick the worst?

I've visited about half the states and would choose Kentucky as the most beautiful.

But armpit, that's tough.

Most boring state to drive through? Ohio. (has to have competitors, though, in the west)
Ugliest city? Albany, NY.
Worst traffic? Houston, TX.
Loneliest place? Mountains of West Virginia
Armpit? -Hot, sweaty in the middle of the summer? -- The bayou of Louisiana. Don't try to drive through New Orleans, in July, with no air conditioning, as I once did. Very bad idea.

[Windsong]

Whats THIS?? NO ONE picks Louisiana?? You all must be tourists...you come here for two weeks and think its Orleans paradise! But we have had more crooked politicians here than any other state! New Orleans may have good food and Mardi Gras, but try living here and you'll soon find out that we are, at heart and soul, a SOCIALIST state, with the worst public elementary schools in the country!

[Rainmist]

Hey, Georgia isn't THAT bad !!! My Dad ( U.S. Army Major )was transferred here when I was a kid. We just never left. We live in the Garden of Good and Evil (if you get my drift ). It's nice here, you have your rednecks but you don't have to socialize with them .... lol. I moved here from Dover NJ and boy did we hate to leave that place ... it was so nice in the late 60's. Personally, since South Carolina is right across the river, I have come to just hate that state. Aside from going over to the outlets, I just have no good experiences there. Talk about rednecks !!!!

[agitator]

I'm fairly well traveled, I worked in tv and have been to just about every college campus with a televised sports team east of the Mississippi and 23 out of however many NASCAR tracks there are.

I'll just lay out a few general comments.

Alabama: Pretty state (not wild about Biloxi), friendly people. Definitely gets a bad rap.

California: I already live in a commie hell-hole. Why would I want to go there?

Connecticut: Commie state crawling with storm troopers who like ringing the Governor's cash register. People on bicycles are clocked on radar.

Florida: Yellow, tepid, tap water, sharks, alligators, bugs as big as your fist, and legions of zombies from "Dawn of the Dead" behind the wheels of Caddies. What's not to like about Florida?

Georgia: Would be like Alabama if it weren't for Atlanta.

Hawaii: Waikiki looks like a Japanese fantasy land.

Kentucky: Ever heard of the Knob Creek Machine Gun shoot? You have to see it to believe it. Some day I'll post pictures......

Massachusetts: Occupied Enemy Territory. I live here. Don't come here unless you're bringing Patton's 8th Army with you.

Mississippi: "Sunday Best" doesn't look so good in Mississippi. Maybe Trent will attend the W.V. University of Pork in his spare time and learn from the master how to help that place out.

New Jersey: The Police State. I lived there for 15 years, I know.

New York: Actually has three armpits, (with all due respect, I was born there) NYC, Albany, and Buffalo. I once refused to check into a Best Worstern hotel in Buffalo because I noticed the red light twirling over the front door. Most of the rest of the state is pretty nice.

North Carolina: Western part of the state is very nice. Central part is becoming yuppie mall central.

South Carolina: Looks a little down on it's luck but nice folks. Last time I was there you could smoke cigars anywhere in the airport! Two points for SC!

Texas: The pizza joint is big enough to put in an indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool. There's three people in it: You, and the owners.

The midwest in general: Lousy food except for great steaks. Waaaaayyyy too many "Parking Nazis." Stay out of Madison, Wisc. unless you carry around a portrait of Stalin with you.

Northwest: Some of the friendliest people with a ready smile I've ever met - assuming you're out of the big cities.

Southwest: Is this the same strip-mall we were at yesterday or is this a different one?

After all of the wise-cracking, I've met fine, patriotic, "conservative" Americans in every state I've been to. Sometimes you have to look a little harder in than in others, but they're there. This is America, right? Too bad they don't all live in the same state, I'd move there in a heartbeat.

[MoJo2001]

Pick any Blue state that voted for Gore and that's my vote for the Armpit of America.